An airline credit card with an insane rewards program was released recently and you just have to have it. Or, the apartment of your dreams just popped up on Padmapper and you need your name on the call box, like, yesterday. So –– naturally –– you use one of your free annual credit checks through Experian, EXPN, +0.24% Equifax, EFX, +1.05% or TransUnion TRU, +0.51% to check up on things, and suddenly you find yourself in crisis mode: why is my credit score lower than it was last time I checked?
If the applicant is declined for credit, the lender is not obliged to reveal the exact reason why. However industry associations including the Finance and Leasing Association oblige their members to provide a satisfactory reason. Credit-bureau data sharing agreements also require that an applicant declined based on credit-bureau data is told that this is the reason and the address of the credit bureau must be provided.
Credit reporting companies must investigate the items in question — usually within 30 days — unless they consider your dispute frivolous. They also must forward all the relevant data you provide about the inaccuracy to the organization that provided the information. After the information provider receives notice of a dispute from the credit reporting company, it must investigate, review the relevant information, and report the results back to the credit reporting company. If the information provider finds the disputed information is inaccurate, it must notify all three nationwide credit reporting companies so they can correct the information in your file.
With the increase in financial crime, such as identity theft, it's wise to check your credit history at least once a year. You can obtain a free copy of your credit report once every 12 months from each of the three nationwide consumer reporting agencies: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. To order your free annual report, go to annualcreditreport.com, call 877-322-8228, or complete the Annual Credit Report Request Form and mail it to: Annual Credit Report Request Service, PO Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.

As mentioned earlier, closing an account, whether done by you or your credit card provider, could negatively impact your score. Unless you dramatically reduce your spending, closing a card (and saying goodbye to that credit limit) will probably increase your credit utilization rate. It could also lower your average age of accounts when the card falls off your credit report.

Most people have more than one credit report. Credit reporting companies, also known as credit bureaus or consumer reporting agencies, collect and store financial data about you that is submitted to them by creditors, such as lenders, credit card companies, and other financial companies. Creditors are not required to report to every credit reporting company.
Members of the 850 Club can be broken into two groups. There are the super-knowledgeable tacticians trying to crack scoring algorithms, and the naturally prudent. Some are prepping for a loan. Others are just credit-score hobbyists. Paul Chua, 40, who works at San Carlos, Calif.-based Helix, a startup focused on personal genomics, is one of the tacticians.
WalletHub is the only free credit score provider that updates daily! Information from TransUnion is updated between 3 and 6 a.m. ET daily, including weekends. Although we check for new info on your report every day, if a lender does not send TransUnion updates fast enough, it will not immediately show up on your WalletHub profile. Creditors typically report new information to the credit bureaus every 30 days, but the frequency of updates can vary. With that said, if more than 30 days pass but you still don't see the updated information, a good idea would be to contact your lender about it, to make sure the necessary info was sent to the credit reporting agencies.

Although not every landlord does so, rent can play a role in improving your credit score in some cases. Making sure that you are paying your rent on time every month is just as important as paying any other bill or debt. Not doing so can make it end up as a late payment and impact your credit score negatively. Ask your landlord if they submit to any of the three major bureaus.

Gina, the most important thing you can do is pay your bills on time consistently – and even then, it takes time. Another important factor is your credit utilization, which is the amount of credit you are using compared to how much you have available. For example, using $10,000 of credit when you have $50,000 available is better than using $25,000 of credit when you have $50,000 available. Here are more tips: How to improve your credit score.
Some of these reasons are relevant all the time; others matter most when you’re planning to apply for a loan. A mistake on your credit report could cost you thousands of dollars in interest over the life of a mortgage, for instance. So try to review your report as regularly as possible, but be extra thorough in the months leading up to a loan or credit card application.
When you check your credit score for free with Credit Sesame it makes no impact on your credit score since it is a soft credit check, not a hard credit check. When doing a soft credit check you are only pulling your credit score to view how you are performing, not because you are applying for a loan or other type of credit that you are hoping to get approved for. You do a free credit check online as many times as you like (at a cost if done more than once monthly) and it will not affect your credit standing. If you plan on applying for a loan, then you are saying that the lender can “check my credit” to see if you can be approved. This type of inquiry will affect your credit score.
If you’re hesitant for your teen to open their own credit card, adding them as an authorized user on your credit card account may be the best option. You can easily monitor their spending through statements and online banking. While they piggyback off your credit, you can continue to benefit from the same perks your card offers and even earn rewards on their purchases — if you have a rewards card.

Anyone who denies you credit, housing, insurance, or a job because of a credit report must give you the name, address, and telephone number of the credit reporting agency (CRA) that provided the report. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), you have the right to request a free report within 60 days if a company denies you credit based on the report.

A: If you request your report online at annualcreditreport.com, you should be able to access it immediately. If you order your report by calling toll-free 1-877-322-8228, your report will be processed and mailed to you within 15 days. If you order your report by mail using the Annual Credit Report Request Form, your request will be processed and mailed to you within 15 days of receipt.